There are 25 statements below. Give yourself the following points for each statement:

0 – Do not agree
1 – Agree or somewhat agree
2 – Do not understand or unsure

Be very honest and rate each statement truthfully. Do not skip a statement. As a project manager, you:

Write a project charter using a word processor

Manually transform scope into requirements

Manage project risks using a spreadsheet

Primarily use dashboards to share weekly status

Use sticky notes (Post-it®) to create a WBS

Share project documentation on network drives

Your team cannot access issue logs anywhere

Perform brainstorming sessions using a whiteboard

Use e-mail then phone to quickly get answers

Do not use three-point estimating all the time

Have not used a wiki for knowledge management

Do not have a LinkedIn or Twitter account

Have not used Skype on a conference call

Have not recorded a conference call

Believe in triple-constraints (scope, time and cost)

Have not heard of the PMBOK® Guide 4th Edition

Think that PRINCE2 is a new music album

Know that CBAP® (“c-bop”) is the latest PRINCE2® dance move

Do not know the latest versions of PMI standards

Have not heard of CAPM®

Have not heard of PMP®

Have not heard of PgMP®

Have not heard of PMI-RMP℠

Have not heard of PMI-SP®

Cannot be away from the office for more than one week

If you scored 20+, you are a Certified Dinosaur Project Manager (CDPM)! If you scored 15-19 points, it will not be long before you earn the CDPM designation. If you scored 10-14 points, you need to upgrade your skills. If you scored lower than 10 points, good for you!

Manage project risks using a spreadsheet—use Palisade @Risk or some other software

Primarily use dashboards to share weekly status— In Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, there is a feature called “My Site” and the discussion board can be used as a Wall (similar to Facebook). A special thank you to my Filipino friend, former colleague and SharePoint expert Dux. You can use MBWA too (Management by Wandering Around).

Use sticky notes (Post-it®) to create a WBS—use WBS Chart Pro from Critical Tools. Mindjet’s MindManager will work also but I prefer the bidirectional feature of WBS Chart Pro.

Share project documentation on network drives—we use SharePoint but you can use Google Docs too

With its collaboration features, Optimal Trace enables CIOs and senior managers to standardize requirements management across all projects within the organization. It also allows project managers to align the requirements of various stakeholders and to facilitate collaboration across multiple teams locally or remotely. As a business analyst, you can easily capture business and user requirements using Optimal Trace and present the same for implementation by the information technology team. The software development team can then translate functional and non-functional requirements into tangible technical solutions.

A project will not be complete without the involvement of the quality management team. With Optimal trace, QA analysts and testers can review requirements early in the project life cycle even prior to user sign-off. After the requirements have been baselined, the quality management team can then finalize their test plans and test cases.